Historical Traveler Reviews Corfu Holiday Palace Kanoni

Holiday from hell

from TORII

I just wish I had a cam corder this hotel would have been the perfect subject for the tv series package holidays from hell. Blocked loos, no electricity, food covered in wasps, a pianist 3 sheets to the wind and for the "COURTESY BUNGALO" the smell was so bad and the creepy crawlies on the beds plus the overall filth of it and the lack of any hot water we just cried when we opened the door. When we complained nobody was interested. I love my holidays but this was like being in a nightmare for a week!

Unacceptable!

from anonymous

Our travel agent booked us into this hotel - designated as 5 star or deluxe. Perhaps in its heyday 30 years ago. This hotel is shabby, smelly, in sad repair. In fact, they still have the original rotary dial telephones, and no other phone system!!! In order to check our messages at home, we had to walk 200 meters down the hill to use the payphone. They DO have A/C, but refused to turn it on....it was very hot in the room as the vent continued to blow hot air even on off. We had to sleep with the patio door open. Don't be lured by the photos - we stay approx. 300 nights a year in hotels for our business - trust me, they can make anything look good in a picture.....

The reception staff was discourteous, almost rude. They would ignore us to wait on Greek clients or to speak with their friends on the phone. Oh, yes, no safe in the rooms either. And the runway for the airport is on a direct line with the hotel....100 planes a day in high season....

The only good thing I can say is the food was good and the dining room staff excellent. We will NEVER stay here again, even though they have begun (slowly) to renovate the 7th floor.

Being Canadian, we are true to our reputation - slow to get angry or to complain, but this time I left a complaint letter for the general manager. Need I say more?

Suicide is painless!!!

from marnicmor

Cofu holiday palace - what can i say! My new husband and i went there the day after our wedding on honeymoon. We had booked a bungalow away from the main hotel thinking it would be more romantic and we had written on our comments slip that we were on our honeymoon. When we arrived we were told we were on the 6th floor. Of a bungalow? we asked, no, of the hotel, no bungalows left we were told.

The next morning, a few hours after we had got to bed because our flight arrived during the night, we were phoned and told to pack our stuff up and go down to the reception because a bungalow was now available. when we got down we were asked to have a look at it before we took our cases over. When we went to see it we understood why they had said this and returned to the 6th floor. re bungalow - ive stayed in nicer 2 star places and there were two single beds that were fixed to the floor so couldnt be pushed together - bearing in mind it was our honeymoon ...

Re. the hotel being at the end of the runway - watching the planes was the main activity at the hotel!

Re. the pianist in the bar - someone said he was funny? Well maybe he was if he was being ironic by singing 'suicide is painless' on a nightly basis - honest!! (Sometimes he hummed the actual line about suicide - to make it more cheerful?)

We never complained because we got it really cheap through medhotels and i would still say its a clean and cheap place to go with a nice pool and beach if you just wanna stay all week in your hotel. Food was nice enough.

If you have already booked this hotel please dont panic - rooms were ok and so was food, pool and beach. just nothing to do for miles around. make the most of it and if the worst comes to the worst just remember ... suicide is painless!

The Hotel By The Runway

from anonymous

We stayed for 2 weeks at the Holiday Palace Hotel. Food was good, service was good, rooms were clean and spacious, swimming pool and outdoor facilities were adequate.

The problem was the airport noise! The hotel is situated at the end of Corfu airport's runway. Noise from aircraft landing is bad but take-off noise is ear piercing. This can go on all night and so we did not get much sleep even after resorting to ear plugs which we purchased from a shop opposite the hotel.

We would not recommend this hotel.

Nightmare

from anonymous

booked this hotel with a open mind having read other report on this page in october 2004 what a mistake this hotel is dreadfull they say it is run down is a under statement the place is a dump staff are misarable and unfriendly and it is in the middle of nothing just 2 bars outside the hotel which charge silly prices because your stuck there, the rooms are dire,dirty and full of ants, this is not just a moan i am a seasoned holiday maker with over 40 hotels under my belt they charged me for 3 adult beds and 1 of us had to sleep on a camp bed which was just a matress on 4 planks of wood the food was not that bad but if you did not get there for 7.15 bang on the food was gone, the beech is 244 steep steps, no ladders to the beech if you do not like heights this is not for you if you wont further information on this squat e mail me.

Excellent holiday

from anonymous

The Corfu Holiday palace is a 4and1/2 star hotel, and you can see why.

When we first arrived, the taxi took us through the gates and up the long drive round to the front. The receptionist was quick and helpful, and led us straight to our bungalow. The bungalow was set virtually next to the swimming pool so you didn't have far to go. Inside, it was large and roomy, with big glass doors and black out doors. They led onti your own terrace garden with view over the sea. The airconditioning was very good but made a lot of noise, so we found it best to turn it off at night, but by then your room was cold enough anyway. If you kept the doors open leading to outside for to long, a lot of mosquitoes would come in! Admititadly, they could have done with a little refurbishment.

Moving onto the resturaunt. The food was excellent. You coiuld eat as much as you want and the waters kept on bringing out more and more food. I tried ocatapus and loas of different types of salad. You could chose wheter you wanted to sit nside our outside. If you chose to eat outside you ate on a large balcony looking over the sea. Upstairs was the Kefi bar. This was very overpriced. The piano entertainer was good and funny, and was excellent company. We found that if you went down to the mouse island and up the road, there was a lovely taverna where you could get any type of drink ikncluding his home-made lemonade. This taverna was called the White spot and I would recommend it to anyone in the area as it is cheap and the owner (Nikos) is very friendly.

The beach was very nice with its own bay. The watersports were fun too. The only problem was the stepd leeading down to it were very steep.

OVERALL

I think this holtel was great and i would like to thank the owner for such a great holiday. There was some aircraft noise, but you got used to it and anyway, it wasn't that loud. The hotel could do with a little refurbishment but it is still a really good luxury hotel. All the people who have written bad reviews must be really hard to please, and must be the sort of people who will find a problem with anything.

Oh my god

from anonymous

I was told panaramic veiws with great night life, oh dear, the night life was in Corfu town which was a taxi ride or bus ride which we were told was a curtesy bus which was not. Some aircraft noise you might experience, Christ we were on the bloody runway virtually. The hotel was shabby to say the least the staff were rude and very unhelpful.. The bungalow was a scene from a 70's porno set and the airconditioning was in competition with the plane noise. The bungalow was B&B and guess what there was no kettle,cooker or cutlery or pleates or anything.

The one person we met who was very nice was cleaning the room. This was the worst holiday i have ever had one night we had to keep our knife and fork because the others were being used for a wedding that was taking place that did not end till 3.00 in the morning it was so loud even my earplugs did not help. The stars for this hotel are a joke you should be had up for fraud it was not worth a 2 star the food was abysmal and ran out for gods sake. I could go on and on and on .......

Good Break Away

from anonymous

Previous Hilton Hotel, In need of a little refurbishment. Nice Private sandy beach with good facilities at the hotel. Great Piano/Comedian however not the choice if you're looking for a lively resort. The evening buffet was very good, breakfast was quite slow so allow time. The main down point is the view if your room is lake side (More like a great view of the airport with a lot of aircraft noise of some nights!

Loved the food

from NishaSouthYorkshire

My boyfriend and i stayed at the Corfu Holiday Palace on the 12th July 2004 for a week.

This is what we thought.......

ROOMS

We thought that the rooms were spacious and clean although we felt that the decor was a little outdated. The hotel website stated that all rooms had a mini bar and fridge yet we had neither. The room had an inland view....although this was more like a view of the hotel car park. Despite these problems we were not too concerned as a) we did not spend much time in the room b) we didnt really care about the view. There was maid service everyday although she only changed the sheets and the towels,didnt really tidy anything else.

FOOD AND DRINK

We were really impressed by the buffet at breakfast and dinner. There was a wide selection of freshly cooked food everyday. The only disappointing aspect of the whole buffet was the service of some of the waiting staff which we considered rather rude. The hotel used to formerly be a Hilton and still charges Hilton prices which we considered to be way too expensive. Also, the lunch buffet was 15 euros and not included in the half board. This was very expensive considering you were only allowed to eat one plate full.

OVERALL

We enjoyed our stay at this hotel. It is ideal for the type of holiday maker who wants to do very little. There were very few bars and night life although corfu town was only a ten minute drive away. I would definately not recommend it for those who get irritated very easily by aircraft noise as it was close to the airport. And i would not recommend it for those who want a good night life. Many of the guests we met at the hotel return year after year so it does have a good reputation. However, i do think that the hotel can improve in a lot of ways, namely that the staff need to be more friendly ( i was made to feel like a naughty school girl for bringing my smirnoff ice which i had bought from the downstairs bar to the upstairs bar) and the hotel neeeds updating. Overall, we had a fantastic time and i will miss the buffet a lot!

Very sad experiance

from anonymous

************copy of Email sent to Last minute.com***************

I booked the Corfu Holiday Palace for the evening of Friday 9th July (order Reference 21525470) for what was to be the commencement of a luxury romantic holiday in which I had chartered a Yacht for the week from Corfu through the Greek islands with my partner.

Unfortunately due to flight schedules and the commencement of the Yacht charter not starting until Saturday Midday it was necessary to book some accommodation for the remainder of the evening through until Saturday morning the 10th..

Based on the description placed for this hotel on your web site and as a "preferred Partner rated hotel" I booked this 4 star deluxe hotel, with it's I quote "If you appreciate stunning panoramas of the sea in the sun, then look no further" obviously taking and booking and paying for the Sea View room option.

Well how mislead I was, not only was my intelligence, dignity and pride insulted to the lowest possible form all respect for you as a booking agent has been lost.

How disgusted I was to find upon our arrival rude and unfriendly night staff, but also to find that the requested sea View room was unavailable and that we had been issued an inland view. The whole principle of this romantic vacation which was to be sailing through the Greek islands was to be based on waking up in the morning from our sea view room with panoramic views of the ocean upon which we would be sailing. Blown out at the commencement of our holidays.

Not wanting to allow my blood to boil to much what could one do at 01:00 am in the morning but to accept after requesting to speak with the manager, and being told "he can't help you either", I accepted.

Well what a shocking further slap in the face to find that we not only had an inland view, but one of the main runway less than 300 yards from our balcony of Corfu international airport. So the night was spent trying to sleep between the landing charter flights from all over Europe thought out the entire evening.

One could say but you could close the balcony door to try and stop the noise, of which we did, but very reluctantly. One thing I have learnt from many years of travel is to allow rooms with air conditioning to breath before shutting them up due to contaminants and bacteria. Believe me there would have been no better example of a filthy dirty hotel in which this practice should have been exercised.

To say that this hotel may have been a 4star deluxe when it was built in the late fifties or early sixties I could believe, but considering it's hard to find where a single Greek Drakma, or now Euro has been spent since this day would be an understatement.

I would suggest with immediate effect, 1. I would love a full refund and some form of compensation, 2. I doubt this will happen as this mail will probably not even be read, therefore a minimum of the difference between sea view and inland view refunded, 3. Remove the hotel as a preferred partner with immediate effect, 4. if you choose to maintain the hotel, I would say re-rating it as 1 star or at the very, very best 2 star hotel.

You should be more responsible than to build up people's expectations of what they may expect, especially on holidays, the one time we get to indulge ourselves and escape from the rat race, headaches, and bureaucracy of every day living in London that we all tolerate. The last thing one wants is to be presented within on holidays also. Very saddening, disheartening experience, never to be repeated.

I close however by saying that the remainder of our Greek Holiday was one of the best every, it was just disapointing that it started at this hotel.

TripAdvisor Reviews Corfu Holiday Palace Kanoni

Very Good

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